Cats add grad transfer long snapper
- Thread starter lou v
- Start date
Very interesting... guess we weren't too thrilled with Fitzpatrick.
Stroebel appears to have received mixed reviews as a recruit, such as this from Kohl's:
Stroebel appears to have received mixed reviews as a recruit, such as this from Kohl's:
193 6' 3" During the 2012 National Scholarship Camp Trevor continued to snap the ball with good velocity as he finished the two day camp with an average snap time of .74 seconds. Trevor snapped the ball well during the live portion of camp and also stays consistent during protection drills. Trevor has a great frame at 6'4" 225 lbs. with outstanding potential. He uses his entire body during the snap to produce a well rotated ball with good velocity. Trevor will benefit from improving his overall accuracy on both his long and short snaps. He finished camp with an average snap time of .75 seconds from 14 yards
He (Trevor) has 2 years of eligibility so probably more for 2017 than this season.
Note that NU has a Freshman LS Tyler Gillikin (Island) on the roster this season. Is Fitpatrick hurt?
"Dan & Susan Jones Family Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald"
groan. an endowed coach's chair?
Reminds me of when I was in B-school and one of the associate professors joked that at Kellogg, they had a 'Cocoa Puffs Professor of Finance"
groan. an endowed coach's chair?
Reminds me of when I was in B-school and one of the associate professors joked that at Kellogg, they had a 'Cocoa Puffs Professor of Finance"
That's been around for quite a while and ultimately NU wants to endow every coaching position. Other schools do this, too.
Are you perplexed or don't want to speculate? Seems like Fitzpatrick may not be invited back in 2017 if Strobel is any good.
To me, this is more evidence that Fitz is not buying what some NU posters have been saying about our "wonderful" special teams.
By the way, do you think Fitzpatrick was the reason for our punter standing closer to the LOS than usual? This was commented on by the color announcer during several different games, that Niswander was receiving the ball 2 yards closer to the line than is commonplace.
Fitzpatrick is a 5th year Senior so his eligibility is done after the 2016 season.
He was a business major at Tech. Hard to believe he'd pay his own way to Grad School at NU (Kellogg?) just to have a chance to snap someday.....
Has it really been so long? Yeah, my bad. He was a RS frosh in 2013.
So Strobel competes for the job this year and we have a stopgap before doling out a new scholarship in the next class?
well, I guess that means the coaching staff will be well-endowed. (obligatory Michigag dig). As opposed to harbaugh who is just a big dik in general.
Maybe it was to add two yards to his net punting average?
As it was, NU lost on the average, 5 yards per punt in net yards to their opponents over the 2015 season.
It's true that NU was minus-5 in net punting per game compared to its opponents, but you can't pin all of that on Niswander. Fitz likes directional, rugby-style punts to limit returns, and that will lower a punting average. Plus, I think Niswander was nursing an injury last year. Regardless, the strategy largely worked: NU ranked third in the country last year in allowing 1.94 yards per punt return. That's pretty good. Of Niswander's 85 punts, 30 were fair caught and 21 landed inside the 20.
Don't know if he was injured or not, but that would be good if it means he's healthy this year.
I don't know exactly how to view the low yards per return statistic, I would assume short punts are more easily covered resulting in more fair catches and less return yards. I think the statistic of net punting yards would be more valuable as it measures field position lost or gained??
Seems to me, for example, that I would be better off with a 55 yard punt and 5 return yards netting 50 in comparison to a 45 yard punt and 2 return yards netting 43? I'm talking average over the course of the season.
I know the coaches influence this a lot with the directional instructions, but when you are punting from your own 5 yard line with 2 minutes left it's nice to bomb a 50+ yard punt and not a 38.
Hopefully the 55 yard ones come this year.
Everyone would take a 55-yard punt. The best two punters in the nation last year averaged 48.0 yards.
You know Fitz, he's pretty conservative. He'll take a shorter, directional punt with no return over a longer punt with the chance of a big return. You can argue with that philosophy, but that's what he asked Niswander to do last year. (And that could change a little bit this year if Niswander is healthier.)
For what it's worth, Niswander did have six 50-plus yard punts last season.
This is a good move at least for the restorative powers of competition. Fitz almost cost us the Penn State game last year, multiple errant snaps screwed up our kicker and punter's rhythm so much as to affect the efficacy of their kicks, and . . . . don't we all remember the Miami of Ohio game in 1995? We can't have too many longsnappers.
I read that he graduated in three years so he is a senior, not a 5th year senior, and has two years of eligibility since he missed one of his thee years due to injury.
The official NU roster has Fitzpatrick listed as a 5th year Senior. You are correct about Trevor but I was referring to Chris.
The more alert amongst you might notice that we changed punting formations once Fitzpatrick became starter. If you compare what the LS did in the older formation against what he does in the current formation, you may be able to spot another reason we may have accepted a Grad transfer.
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